Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi followed up the theme of the PN election hoardings today, telling a political conference that the distinguishing feature of the Nationalist Party was its confidence in the people.

He told supporters at Msida that the PN in government had a lot to be proud of, but it could also boast of a vision for the future. Both were evidence of the confidence it had in the people, who always achieved the targets set for the country by PN governments.

The vision for the future, he said, centred on a higher standard of living, better jobs a better environment and a better health service.

Progress would be achieved thanks to the achievements made so far. He pointed out that in a year, 2,227 full time jobs were created, along with another 3,561 part-time. Unemployment shrank by 1,000. And more young people were taking up the opportunities to further their education.

He also pointed to investment in the roads, Mcast, Mater Dei Hospital and schools. Investment was also flowing to Malta. Among recent success stories were investent by Malta Freeport, the Go Group and HSBC, yet the MLP had been against the privatisation of those entities. It had also spoken against the SmartCity project. Even the scheme for cheap broadband internet access had been described as a gimmick, by the MLP, despite the benefits of greaater use of Information Technology, Dr Gonzi said.

But the MLP was, above all, the party which had wanted to keep Malta out of the EU, thus denying the benefits that had followed. And no apology had been made, Dr Gonzi said.